Please, what is 17? Let us read one Scripture: 2 Thessalonians 1:10. We shall not read the whole verse, but only the words in parentheses: “for our testimony unto you was believed.”
In the Chinese translation, it says, “our witness to you.” In the English translation, it is “our testimony.” Our testimony—you have believed.
We thank the Lord that He has led us to this last message. We have been considering together the matter of testimony and witness.
We know that this matter is dear to the heart of God. In His Word, this is of central importance. Therefore, in our hearts, it must also have an essential place.
Many times we pay attention to fragmentary things, and many times we testify to these fragments. But we have neglected the central thought of God. We have missed the testimony of God.
I believe that in these last days God wants to restore the place of His testimony in the hearts of His people. From the time heaven and earth were created, God has been testifying Himself to us.
He wants us to know Who He is, that we may truly know Him. Because we know Him, we are one with Him; and because we are in union with Him, we can testify Him forth.
Our testimony is not objective. Our testimony is not passive. Our testimony is subjective. We testify God through our experience of God.
This testimony is not something that we can bear individually, because it is too great. Individually, we cannot be a complete testimony. We need the Body to testify to this glorious Christ.
This morning we would like to consider again the making of a witness and the nature of our testimony. We know that God seeks His witnesses on this earth.
God calls men to be His witnesses. Of course, He will not call those who do not believe in Him to testify to Him. But to all who have been saved, God is calling us to be His witnesses.
The call to be a witness is universal. It is not that some who have been saved are called to be His witnesses while other Christians are not called.
All who have been saved by grace are called by God to rise up and be His witnesses. God created us and saved us for this one purpose: that we might be His witnesses.
This call is a universal call. Every brother and sister is called by Him. He calls every one of us to be His witness.
But there is one word in the Bible: “Many are called, but few chosen.” We are all called by God, but whether we are chosen to be His witnesses is another matter.
The call reaches every child of God, but some answer the call and some do not. Some receive grace and answer the call according to that grace. Others receive grace, waste it, and do not answer the call.
In Old Testament times, when the testimony of God came to man, it became law. The law could not be fulfilled because of the weakness of man. The Israelites could not observe the laws of God; they lost the testimony of God and put His name to shame.
The original purpose of the law was that we might know our sin. God knew that man could not observe these laws. God knew that man could not be His witness. But because we do not know ourselves, we think that we can.
Israel said, “Whatever God commands us, we will observe.” Yet this proved that they could not. The law shuts us up under sin in order to lead us to Christ.
We thank and praise the Lord that, in the New Testament, when our Lord Jesus came into this world, the testimony of God became our Lord Jesus Christ.
The law came through Moses; grace and truth came through the Lord Jesus. When the testimony of God comes to us in Christ, it is no longer law—it is grace.
The Lord Jesus has accomplished everything for us. He has given us His life, and the Spirit lives in us. He wants to accomplish in us all that He desires to accomplish. This is grace.
Although the testimony of God today is more complete, and it may seem more difficult to testify to it, the Holy Spirit testifies concerning the Lord, and we testify also. By the grace of God, the Holy Spirit leads us into His testimony.
When we hear of the testimony of the Lord Jesus and see its height and greatness, perhaps we feel that it is a great burden. Who can bear this burden? But Paul said that whatever he had become, he had become by the grace of God.
God calls us to be His witnesses, and He has already prepared adequate grace for us. As we receive this grace and cooperate with it, we can respond to His call. It is not that we do it ourselves; it is His grace that enables us to work.
Many are called, but few are chosen, because there are considerable conditions for being chosen. The testimony is great, and the requirements are great. Yet we thank and praise God: His grace also is great.
We should not have the feeling that this is merely law. We should have the sense that grace is sufficient. We are weak, and there is nothing good in us, yet He is willing to entrust His testimony to us because He knows that His grace is sufficient.
Today we have received His trust. We want to be witnesses for the Lord Jesus Christ. This is a tremendous matter.
Many times, however, we make an anti-testimony. We should give testimony to Jesus, but sometimes our testimony is altogether contrary to Him.
Although we have been saved by grace, because we do not know the cross, we may still live in our flesh. What others see in our living may be far from the Lord Jesus Christ. When men observe us, they may ask, “Is this your God? Is this the Jesus in Whom you believe?”
Many children of God give anti-testimony, and many times we give false testimony. A false testimony is not necessarily one that is without factual basis.
A testimony must have a fact, but the existence of a fact alone is not sufficient. Even if the fact is true, if you have not seen it, heard it, or experienced it for yourself, you are not able to give testimony. If you give testimony, it is false.
Many times we speak about this or that concerning our Lord, but in our own life we have not experienced Him. We have not touched spiritual reality.
There is an objective fact in all that God has accomplished in Christ, and that never changes. But when you rise to give a testimony, you must have touched the spiritual reality yourself. Otherwise, even though your words are accurate and what you say is factual, in the eyes of God it is still a false testimony.
Sometimes we can testify a little because we have received grace, but much still comes from ourselves and from this world. The testimony is then mixed; it is not pure. For this reason, the testimony of God is often discounted.
Many times we give testimony without power. The words may be right, but there is no power. Why? Because we try to testify by ourselves, using our eloquence and our mind, instead of depending upon the power and wisdom of the Holy Spirit.
Paul said that when he came, he did not come with excellency of speech or wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that faith would not rest on men but on God.
God calls us to be His witnesses. He wants us to give a pure and complete testimony to Him. He does not want other things mixed into the testimony, for they interrupt and weaken it.
It is not easy to be a witness. There must be considerable dealing in a witness. In Hebrews 11, we see those who are witnesses surrounding us like a cloud, encouraging us to run forward in the way of testimony.
We have looked at them from the historical point of view. Now we want to learn some lessons from them and see what requirements are necessary for us to become true witnesses.
The first requirement is seen in Abel: anyone who desires to testify to God must first be accepted by God.
We know that we are all sinners. There is nothing good in us. No one can come to God by himself; if we came by ourselves, we would be consumed by His holy fire.
When Abel came to God, he came with a more excellent offering. This more excellent sacrifice symbolizes our Lord Jesus Christ. Abel admitted that he was a sinner, that he deserved to die, and that by himself he could not come to God.
He trusted in God’s provision and used a lamb as an atonement for himself. Therefore God accepted him. Though Abel was killed, he still speaks; and to speak is to give testimony.
The first requirement is that we must be accepted by God. We have been accepted by God in His beloved Son. Only one who has been saved by grace and accepted by God can be called to be His witness.
The second person is Enoch. Not only must we be accepted by God, but we must rise up and walk with God.
Many children of God have been accepted by God in Christ, but they do not walk with Him. God walks one way, and they walk another. Many times they want to force God to walk with them, but they are not willing to walk with God.
The Lord Jesus said, “Where I am, there shall also My servant be.” We who have been saved by grace must learn in our daily life to walk with God if we desire to be His witnesses.
To walk with God means that we draw near to Him, hear His voice, know His will, and walk with Him. If we do not walk with Him, how can we hear His voice? How can we know His purpose?
The prophet tells us that unless two are agreed, they cannot walk together. If we desire to walk with God, we must have one heart with Him. We must have a heart that loves Him, a perfect heart toward Him, and a willingness to offer our hearts to Him.
In Proverbs, it says:
My son, give Me thy heart,
And let thine eyes delight in My ways.
Many times our eyes do not delight in His ways because our hearts are not toward Him.
Romans 12 exhorts us, by the mercies of God, to present our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to Him. Such service is intelligent service. We are not to be conformed to this world, but to be transformed by the renewing of our mind, that we may prove the good, acceptable, and perfect will of God.
One who desires to give testimony to God is an offered person. He has offered his body as a living sacrifice. A living sacrifice is one who lives for God. Such a person can prove the will of God and walk with Him.
Brother Watchman Nee said that consecration is the first spiritual experience of a Christian. Salvation brings us to God, but after we believe in Him, the first spiritual experience is consecration.
If you have not offered yourself, if your consecration is not thorough, you have not taken even one step in your spiritual way. This is the most fundamental first step. If we want to be witnesses, we must rise up and walk with God.
The third person is Noah. Here we see another requirement: revelation. Before God, we need revelation.
The revelation of God is complete, and it is included in the Bible. In the past God revealed Himself through the prophets to the fathers; in these last days He has spoken to us in His Son.
God’s revelation is complete in this Book. We cannot have a new revelation outside the Bible; that is heresy. But the revelation contained within the Bible, completed in the first century, must be revealed to us personally by the Holy Spirit.
God, Who breathed Himself out in words, desires to speak again in us what He has spoken in the past. Every brother and sister needs to receive revelation.
Paul prayed that the Father would give us the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, that we might truly know God. We must truly know God and truly know Jesus Christ.
Objective revelation alone is not enough. We need the revelation given in the past to be revealed in us again through the Holy Spirit, so that in our spirit we may see our Lord. This revelation transforms us.
Many biblical truths may be known merely as doctrines. Then they are only letters to us, and letters kill. The more we know such letters, the more condemned we may feel, because we know how far we are from them.
The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. When the Holy Spirit quickens and reveals the Word to us, we say, “Thank God, now I see.” Then there is power within us to know Christ truly, to be transformed inwardly, and to stand up to testify to God.
Then we can say, “I had heard of Thee by the hearing of the ear; but now mine eye seeth Thee.” Whenever God reveals His Son to us, we prostrate ourselves before Him. Revelation humbles us.
When we truly see the Lord, we fall before Him. We see that apart from His grace we have nothing. What is most needed among the children of God today is revelation. We may know much truth but have little revelation.
It pleases God to reveal His Son in us. Why do we not receive revelation? Because there is a problem with our hearts.
The pure in heart are blessed, for they shall see God. If our hearts long for God, the Lord will surely reveal Himself to us. We need revelation.
One who receives revelation must have faith. This is seen in Abraham. When the God of glory appeared to him, Abraham left his country, his kindred, and his home, and went to the place where God led him.
When God gives revelation to us, we must receive it by faith. It may seem impractical, and outwardly we may see nothing. But the Christian life is a life by faith and not by sight. The unseen is more important than what is seen.
When we receive revelation before God, we receive it by faith. We believe that He calls things that are not as though they were and brings life out of death.
The revelation He gives becomes our life, and He is able to bring us into resurrection so that His revelation becomes our testimony. We must believe; only then can we obey. This is the life of Abraham.
Finally, we see Moses. Here is another requirement: having seen and received something from God, we must pay the price. We must make a choice.
We must choose to suffer affliction with Christ rather than choose the treasures of Egypt. To be a witness, we must pay the price. We must forsake all in order to follow Jesus.
The Lord Jesus said that if anyone does not deny himself and take up his cross to follow Him, he is not worthy to be His disciple.
The greatest price is not outward things. The greatest price is ourselves. We may forsake everything else and still not be willing to deny ourselves. But if we do not forsake ourselves, all that we have forsaken counts for nothing.
Truly, one who has seen the Lord says, “I have sacrificed nothing. All is of His grace.” Such a person can be a witness for God.
This is not true only in the Old Testament. We see the same examples in the New Testament.
When the Lord called His disciples, they came to Him. John the Baptist said, “Behold, the Lamb of God.” John and Andrew followed Jesus. Peter was brought before the Lord.
Later, when the Lord was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Peter and Andrew and said, “Come ye after Me.” He saw James and John mending their nets and called them. He saw Matthew sitting at the place of toll and said, “Follow Me.”
Those who believed in Him walked with the Lord for three years. They were together with Him, learning the Lord. Although many times they did not learn well, the Lord was patient with them. He led them and taught them.
Yet at that time they did not have sufficient revelation. Though the Lord instructed them many times, they listened but did not hear; they looked but did not see.
For more than three years the Lord was with the twelve disciples. To the Lord, this was a very heavy cross. They did not understand where He was going, nor did they understand the way.
Philip said, “Show us the Father, and it sufficeth us.” Judas—not Iscariot—asked why the Lord would reveal Himself to them and not to the world. Even on the last night, they still did not understand because they did not have revelation.
But after the resurrection, the Lord opened their understanding. He explained to them the things concerning Himself in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms.
The Lord said that when the Holy Spirit came, He would teach them all things. There were many things He could not speak to them then because they could not bear them. But when the Spirit of truth came, He would guide them into all truth and glorify Christ.
When the Holy Spirit came after the Lord’s ascension, the disciples received revelation and faith. Peter stood up with the eleven, and their testimony was powerful. They testified to the resurrection of the Lord because they had seen the risen Lord.
For this testimony they suffered much, but they rejoiced that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the Name. This is a completely different condition. Such men are witnesses for the Lord.
In order to testify for the Lord, we must walk with the Lord. John 15 tells us that the Holy Spirit testifies concerning Christ, and we also testify because we have been with Him.
Although we cannot walk physically with the Lord as the disciples did while He was on earth, today we can have a better walk with Him. Then they walked beside Him outwardly; now the Lord dwells in us, and we are in Him.
The Lord says, “Abide in Me, and I in you.” As we abide in Him, we bear much fruit and glorify the Father.
If we want to testify to God, we must abide continually in the Lord. God has placed us in Christ, but in our experience we must continually dwell in Him. We must have continuous communion with the Lord.
Some say that reading the Bible, praying, or coming to meetings is abiding in Christ. These are good means, and we should do them. But the secret of truly abiding in the Lord is found in 1 John 2:27.
And as for you, the anointing which ye received of Him abideth in you, and ye need not that any one teach you; but as His anointing teacheth you concerning all things, and is true, and is no lie, and even as it taught you, ye abide in Him.
God has put the anointing within us. The anointing is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit dwells in us permanently. He is a permanent resident.
The Lord said that He would be with us and would never leave us. We may grieve Him and quench Him, but we cannot cast Him out.
What does He do as He abides within us? He teaches us how to abide continually in the Lord. The anointing keeps teaching us.
Sometimes it is a still, small voice. Sometimes it is a light. Sometimes it is a breaking within us. Sometimes it is an urging. The anointing teaches us, and we must obey its teaching. As we obey, we abide continually in the Lord.
A witness must have an abiding life. He continually abides in the Lord.
We have mentioned revelation. In Acts, Paul gives his testimony three times. What is his testimony? Before King Agrippa he said, “I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision.”
Revelation is what God reveals within us. What we see inwardly becomes a vision. Vision is not what we see with our natural eyes; it is what we see in our spirit.
On the road to Damascus, Paul saw the heavenly vision. He saw that the Lord Jesus is the risen Lord, the Lord of all. Nothing can resist Him or violate His will.
He saw the glory of heaven, and he saw that on earth there is one universal Body. All who believe in the Lord are members of His Body. If you touch any member, you touch the Head. When you persecute His disciples, you persecute Him, because the Lord is one with His church.
Having seen that vision, Paul could say, “I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision.” When God gives us revelation and we see the vision, it is not for our admiration. We must obey it and walk it out.
This vision dominated the whole life and work of Paul. Today we also have this heavenly vision. Have we been obedient to it?
Revelation 12 says that the brethren overcome the accuser by the blood of the Lamb, by the word of their testimony, and because they loved not their life even unto death.
These people are not better than others. They are not perfect. They are weak, and they have failures. Yet they believe in the blood of the Lamb and see the power of the blood. Day by day they are cleansed by the blood.
When they fail, they go immediately back to the blood, and they are continually cleansed. They have testimony because there is spiritual reality in them.
They say, “Jesus is Lord,” because Jesus truly is Lord in them. Therefore their word is powerful.
There is an interesting story in Acts concerning the sons of Sceva. They were Jewish exorcists. They saw Paul cast out demons in the name of the Lord and sought to imitate him.
They said, “I adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth.” But the evil spirit answered, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye?” Then the evil spirit leaped upon them.
If we want to have the word of testimony, we must have reality. Without reality, there is no effectiveness.
For this group of people, the Lord is truly Lord. Therefore, when they speak, they overcome the enemy. They also have this attitude: they do not love their lives even unto death, because they treasure the testimony of God more than their own lives.
In these last days, the enemy threatens people with their lives and seeks to force compromise. But these people love the testimony of God more than their own lives.
The Greek word for testimony is related to the word martyr. A martyr is one who gives testimony even to the extent of giving his own life. All true witnesses are martyrs. They may not die as martyrs, but their life is a martyr’s life.
If we do not have the spirit of a martyr, we cannot be His witnesses.
We praise and thank the Lord. God calls us, and we receive His grace so that we may answer His call. When we consider ourselves, we tremble. We feel unworthy and incapable. But He is worthy, and He is able.
God requires only a willing heart placed in His hands. His grace accomplishes the work.
I would like to fellowship concerning our testimony. Paul says in 2 Thessalonians, “Our testimony unto you was believed.” Our testimony.
There were three writers of 1 Thessalonians: Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy. Was “our testimony” merely the testimony of Paul, Silas, and Timothy? In one sense, yes, because they gave testimony for the Lord in one accord.
But when Paul says “our testimony,” he is not referring only to those three. He refers to the testimony of all the apostles and to the testimony of the church.
Our testimony is the testimony of the church—the testimony of God, the testimony of Jesus Christ.
Do we know that we have a testimony? The testimony of Jesus Christ today is our testimony. It is not merely an objective fact; it is a subjective experience.
Through revelation, faith, and obedience, the objective fact brings us into spiritual reality. This reality changes us within, so that the testimony becomes our testimony.
What is our testimony? Our testimony does not testify to ourselves.
Paul says that we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as servants for Jesus’ sake. When we preach the gospel, men measure us. If we cannot pass the test of their conscience, they will not receive our gospel.
Men look at us as we testify to Jesus Christ. If they have questions concerning us in their conscience, our testimony will not be effective upon them.
Yet we are not testifying to ourselves. We are not telling people what a great person we are, how much knowledge we have, or how spiritual we are.
If, when you give witness, people see only you and not the Lord, you become an anti-testimony. We proclaim that Jesus Christ is Lord. When people listen to us, they watch us, touch us, and measure us.
But the impression they should receive is not ourselves. They should forget us and remember the Lord. That is testimony.
Our testimony is not to draw people to ourselves. We point people to Christ. As John the Baptist said, “He must increase, but I must decrease.” This is the true witness.
When we give testimony, we are not testifying to the church. The church is a vessel for testimony. The church is a golden lampstand.
We must not adorn the golden lampstand so that people see only the lampstand and forget the light. The sole purpose of the lampstand is to bear the light.
The church itself is not the testimony. The church testifies to the Lord Jesus. When men come among us, they should see that God is here, fall down, and worship God. This is the testimony.
People may see much zeal, much work, much labor, and much love. But if we have left our first love, we have fallen, because these things are not our testimony.
Our testimony is this: the Lord is here, and He is our Lord. Wherever two or three are gathered in His name, He is in their midst.
If the Lord is not there, it is vanity of vanities. When two of God’s children gather together but do not honor the Lord as supreme and do not let Him have dominion, then man has dominion. Man gives the ideas and directs the activities, and the testimony is lost.
When men come among us, they should see the Lord and meet the Lord, so that they may fall down and worship God. This is our testimony.
We are not testifying to a particular section of truth, even if it is true, accurate, and personally experienced. We testify to the reality that stands behind all truths.
The Lord Jesus said, “I am the truth.” In the Bible, the word truth is singular. It is not merely many separate truths; it is truth itself.
The Holy Spirit will guide us into all the truth. The truth is the Lord. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth. Truth is reality; it is not doctrine.
There are many doctrines, and every kind of doctrine may enlarge our heads without transforming our lives. But truth changes us.
The Lord Jesus said, “Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” If you know the Son of God, the Son of God sets you free.
Therefore, our testimony is not to holiness alone, though we believe in holiness. It is not to spiritual gifts alone, though we believe in spiritual gifts. It is not to baptism alone, though we are baptized. It is not to the church alone, though we believe in the church.
We testify to the Lord Jesus. Doctrines divide people, but truth unites us, because the truth is our Lord.
What, then, is our testimony? Our testimony is the Lord Jesus Christ.
We thank and praise God that in these last days He is still calling witnesses.
On the one hand, these are most difficult days. On the other hand, these are days of abundant grace, because we have received the inheritance of the testimony experienced by witnesses through all the ages.
All these things are our inheritance. Today the testimony of Jesus Christ is rich—richer than in previous centuries. We have inherited the fullness.
The revelation given to us concerning the testimony of Jesus is more abundant than before; therefore, our responsibility is greater.
Have we been good witnesses for God? Is our testimony mixed, weak, or incomplete? Paul said, “I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision.”
Have we been obedient to one part of the revelation while violating another? Have we been obedient to the testimony of Jesus Christ?
All who are obedient to this testimony are blessed. The days in which we may be witnesses on the earth are still with us. We thank and praise the Lord: our Lord is coming.
We hope that when He comes, He will say, “You are My good witness. You have truly testified to Me.”
Let us bow down and pray.